The Legend of Zelda: A Hero's Return
by Boomadi
Summary: This story chronicles Link's life after OOT as he struggles in the Child Timeline. A bit AU as Majoras Mask is set no have not happened.
1. Proogue

The battle was won. The war was over. Gannondorf was slain and his tower of darkness lay in ruins. The armies of evil were fleeing and the people were fighting back. Across the lands the people celebrated as their liberation from the clutches of the Demon King had come at last. The people heralded the name of the Hero who had journeyed the land, sea, and sky to put an end to the reign of terror. But where was this valiant Hero. As time passed rumor spread across the country like wildfire, rumors of his sightings. Some saw him in their village, some saw him galloping upon his trusty steed across the decayed fields, some claimed he had journeyed to other lands to spread his work and make the world safe for all people, everywhere and free of evil. Yet the most absurd claim was the one the peoples held the most true, that after conquering the lands, the hero had gone on to conquer time itself and return to a time when the kingdom was safe, a time before Ganondorf rose to power, to stop him before he could truly begin, and avert this great tragedy. No matter the case the Hero would never be seen again and as time passed his name would be lost to the ages and his quest would fade to legend. Thus the kingdom of Hyrule could begin its long and tedious journey down the path of reconstruction with the fair and wise Princess Zelda at the helm.

But what dear reader did become of the hero who fought to free the land? Well that is where this story can truly begin. This is the Legend of Zelda: A Hero's Return


	2. Chapter 1

The Song of Time's final notes echoed in the white abyss before fading away completely. The Princess in pink began to melt away as the world fell apart and time flew backwards. The Hero could only close his eyes as the familiar unsettling sensation of time travel flowed through him. The pain of having his bones break and set and then shrink was indescribable. It began in his extremities and worked its way inwards. Before long the hero had lost a foot of height. What felt endless the Hero knew was only a moment. Or was it? Time travelling can be confusing and keeping track of time while actively fighting its flow is near but impossible. No matter the case, when the Hero next opened his eyes it was a sight he was expecting, but at the same time dreading. It was a pair of hands wrapped around the handle of the legendary blade, the blade of evil's bane and the vessel upon which he sailed the river of time, the Master Sword. But these hands were not that of a Hero's. No, a Hero's hands were giant and gauntleted, scarred and calloused, burned and cut. The hands before him were small and pure and clean of blemish, and could barely wrap around the handle of his mighty blade. No these hands were not those of a Hero who has fought many a battle and seen his share of defeat. No these hands were those of a child, young and innocent. In that instant the Hero knew it had worked. He had done this only twice before.

Once when he had to scale down to the bottom of the drained well in Kakariko only to find that time had restricted him access. When he returned the blockage was cleared and beyond lay an ancient prison designed to hold the worst of Hyrule's villains. It was in that asylum that he uncovered the possessions of a man who had claimed he could see beyond the falseness of the material world. When the man was found guilty of speaking treason he was sentenced to live out the rest of his days in the subterranean dungeon. It was onky generations later when the Hero raided the prison that he discovered the man's secret. The man had been using a talisman, crafted by dark beings in times long gone, to see the truth. The artifact was shaped as a tear and had a shard of glass in the center, which gave it the earned name the Lens of Truth. It was this grotesque and mystical object that allowed the Hero to traverse the Temple of Shadows and defeat the ghostly apparition of the Lens' creator, a beat loving specter called Bongo-Bongo.

The other time had been when the Hero found himself lost in the Desert. The hero could proceed no further within the Spirit Temple for one path was blocked by a barrier too heavy for even the adults might and the other path was too small for the adult to fit through. It was only when he could play the ancient song of worship used at the temple could the Hero return. And return he did and with ease could he now fit through the small opening. After defeating a massive knight he claimed a pair of Gauntlets that harnessed the strength needed to progress. When he returned again the Hero once more too big to fit in the opening, but now he had the power to move the barrier which had held him at bay before. With the Gauntlets strength the Hero defeated many a foe and only with the Mirror Shield strapped to his arm, did he defeat the twin witches and surrogate mothers to Gannondorf, Koume and Kotake, more commonly known as the Twinrova.

Of course it was not potions or a wise man's words that allowed the Hero to progress in ways that before he could not.

The green clad Hero turned child sighed in relief and with finality he loosed his hands from the hilt of the blade. The boy knew it was no longer a matter of where he was, but when he was. Seven years in the past to be exact. The boy had lost seven years in time and reverted back to his prepubescent ten year old body. His items that he had used as a child had turned to dust in the future but now they sat in his pouch as if new. The items that he had used as an adult had disappeared as if they were never there. The boy reached up and slowly touched his face. What had been hardened from battle was now soft and free of markings. His hair had grown shorter and when he spoke his voice was high-pitched. The boy sighed again and looked up to see his partner.

Navi. Navi was his partner in his quest, assigned to watch over him and be his guardian by the guardian deity of the forest and father of the eternally youthful Kokiri, the Great Deku Tree himself. She was the voice of reason in his quest, she had always warned him of danger and identified the chinks in his enemies armor. Even when he was distracted and unsure of where to go she had kept face and led them onward. She was his guardian but more importantly she was his friend. When he was weak and weary from battle she comforted him. When he needed a companion they would talk for hours. And when no one else would listen she would be there, for him. This is the way it was since he began his journey. She was his only true friend and she had been there since the start, and when he traveled back in time she was the only one that remembered. She was the closest thing the child had to a mother.

A small smile crossed the boy's face and the two stared at each other for a moment. Then the boy looked at his surroundings. He was once again in the Gateway to the Sacred Realm, the Temple of Time. Built in Antiquity it was the only way to enter the Sacred Realm and the eternal resting place of the Master Sword. The gateway was supposed to be sealed but the child had foolishly broken the seal when he opened the Door of Time and drew the blade. It was good intentions; he was going to use the blade to defeat Ganondorf. But instead he gave Ganondorf exactly what he wanted, access to the essence of the Goddesses, the Triforce. All the while the boy was powerless to stop him, for his soul had been sealed in the Sacred Realm in the Temple of Light until he had matured and became the age of the legendary Hero. Meanwhile Ganondorf made one fatal mistake, the Triforce recognized him of being of dark intentions, and as a safety measure the Goddesses split the Triforce in three, bestowing him with ony one third of the relics power. But of course that's a story for another time.

Now the Temple of Time had been ransacked. The rows of pews were thrown around, broken dadn burned. The windows were shattered, bricks from the wall lay in piles where they had fallen after cracking and the grand red rug leading to the gaping Door of Time was ripped and trampled. Even the Spiritual Stones which had opened the Door to begin with lay shattered on their altar. All in all the place of worship could have looked better.

The child began to walk away from the blade. The minute he crossed the threshold of the Door of Time and stepped onto the ruined Rug everything changed. Time seemed to stop as the Hero froze in mid step. The first thing that changed was the Temple itself. The glass of the windows foated above the floor and seemed to piece themselves back together before fitting back in the holes. The bricks came back together and reset into the walls. The old rug weaved itself back together and the burned foot holes disappeared. Next the Spiritual Stones floated above the altar and spun as they pieced themselves back together. The Door of Time sealed shut with a bang and the Stones faded into nonexistence. One by one the items within the boys pouch disappeared starting with the Ocarina of Time and finishing when the very blade strapped across his back, the Kokiri Sword, vanished. And then with finality time resumed as the Hero of Time, Link, fell forward and his world was consumed by the dark.


End file.
